Dosia Carlson

Last updated
Reverend

Dosia Carlson
Orders
Ordination1979
Personal details
Born(1930-01-11)January 11, 1930
Huron, South Dakota
DiedJanuary 13, 2021(2021-01-13) (aged 91)
Denomination United Church of Christ
OccupationMinister and nonprofit director
Education

Dosia Carlson (January 11, 1930- January 13, 2021) was an American hymnwriter and minister whose work focused on providing support to senior citizens and people with disabilities.

Contents

Early life

Dosia Carlson was born on January 11, 1930, in Huron, South Dakota to Alexander, a Congregational pastor, and Elizabeth Carlson. Dosia attended Whittier Elementary School in Toledo, Ohio, where she wrote her first religious composition for a Christmas program. Carlson was also impacted by church summer camp, where she was introduced to missionary work. [1] She wanted to become a missionary in China. [1] [2]

When she was thirteen, Carlson contracted polio. For a year, she was barely able to speak or swallow, so she lived at the Toledo Society for Crippled Children Home. She remained committed to her schoolwork, attending high school part-time and being tutored at home. In her Junior year of high school, Carlson attended a polio center in Georgia. Polio led to Carlson's use of a wheelchair for much of her life. As she confronted polio, Carlson engaged in musical activities. She began writing religious compositions, meant to teach others with physical disabilities. She used crutches and walkers to deliver speeches or lectures. [1]

After graduating from DeVilbiss High School, Carlson enrolled in DePauw University, where she received a scholarship. After a fall shortly after her arrival, Carlson enrolled in Oberlin College to be closer to her family, attending from 1949 to 1952. She went on to earn her bachelor's degree from the University of Toledo in 1954. Carlson was offered and accepted the directorship of a new high school program associated with the university, the Charles Feilbac School for Orthopedically Handicapped. [1]

Carlson enrolled in the Hartford Seminary, where she earned her Master of Arts degree in 1960. She gained notoriety due to her students' success in graduating with degrees that provided them with job opportunities. [1] She then worked as an associate professor at Defiance College until 1974. [1] [3] In 1961, she was hospitalized with polio again. [1]

Carlson returned to school to earn her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh (1967). In 1968, Carlson published The Unbroken Vigil: Reflections on Intensive Care, describing her moments of despair and pain. She also described the care-taking of herself and polio patients, which was up to that time not commonly described in the medical literature. The book became required reading in some medical school and religious seminary courses. [1]

Ministerial research and work

Carlson was interested in helping people with disabilities, leading to an interest in gerontology. She designed a sabbatical program to learn how churches addressed the aging population's needs and spent her sabbatical with a United Church of Christ church, Church of the Beatitudes, in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1972, she began developing gerontology programs and facilities and writing hymns and sermons addressing the field. [1] In 1974, Carlson moved to Phoenix, to run services at the Beatitudes campus and work as an Associate Minister. [1] [3]

In 1979, Carlson was ordained by the United Church of Christ. [2] In 1981, she founded the Beatitudes Center for Developing Older Adult Resources (Center DOAR, renamed "Duet: Partner In Health & Aging" in 2005), a non-profit providing the homebound elderly with free in-home services to help them stay in their homes longer. [1] [4] She served as Center DOAR's Executive Director from 1981 to 1995. [1]

Carlson continued to write hymns, publishing them in at least twelve major hymnals. [3] In 1986, she published an autobiographical collection of hymns entitled God's Glory. [2]

Later life and death

Carlson spent her final years living at the Beatitudes campus. She died on January 13, 2021, of complications with the COVID-19 virus. [1] [2]

Publications

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scouting in Arizona</span>

Scouting in Arizona has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mesa, Arizona</span> City in Arizona, United States

Mesa is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is the third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix and Tucson, the 36th-most populous city in the U.S., and the most populous city that is not a county seat. The city is home to 504,258 people as of 2020. It is the most populous city in the East Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community on the north, Chandler and Gilbert on the south along with Queen Creek, and Apache Junction on the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Ridley Havergal</span> British poet and hymn-writer (1836–1879)

Frances Ridley Havergal was an English religious poet and hymnwriter. Take My Life and Let it Be and Thy Life for Me are two of her best known hymns. She also wrote hymn melodies, religious tracts, and works for children. She did not occupy, and did not claim for herself, a prominent place as a poet, but she carved out a niche for herself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Church Terrell</span> African-American educator and activist (1863–1954)

Mary Terrell was an American civil rights activist, journalist, teacher and one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree. She taught in the Latin Department at the M Street School —the first African American public high school in the nation—in Washington, DC. In 1895, she was the first African-American woman in the United States to be appointed to the school board of a major city, serving in the District of Columbia until 1906. Terrell was a charter member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1909) and the Colored Women's League of Washington (1892). She helped found the National Association of Colored Women (1896) and served as its first national president, and she was a founding member of the National Association of College Women (1923).

Joni Eareckson Tada is an American evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community".

Thomas A. DeVilbiss High School was a public high school in Toledo, Ohio from 1931 to June 1991. It was part of the Toledo Public Schools, serving students from the DeVeaux, Elmhurst, Grove Patterson, Longfellow, Mayfair, McKinley, Nathan Hale, Old Orchard, and Whittier elementary schools. The building still sits at 3301 Upton Avenue near the Central Avenue intersection.

Henrietta Cornelia Mears was a Christian educator, evangelist, and author who had a significant impact on evangelical Christianity in the 20th century and one of the founders of the National Sunday School Association Best known as the innovative and dynamic Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, California and in charge of the college and young adult people in the mid-1900s, she built a dedicated, enthusiastic staff, trained and mentored her teachers and implemented a graded, age-appropriate curriculum from “cradle roll” to adults. Henrietta lectured and wrote passionately about Sunday school's power to teach others the Bible. Within two years, Sunday School attendance at Hollywood “Pres” was averaging more than 4,200 per week. She served in leading the Sunday School program from 400 to 6500. Henrietta Mears taught the college age program herself. Henrietta Mears was one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th Century. She founded Gospel Light, a publishing company for many of her training materials, Forest Home, a Christian conference center nestled in Forest Falls, California, and "Gospel Literature Internationals (GLINT)"., and profoundly impacted the ministries of Bill Bright and Vonette Zachary Bright, Jim Rayburn and Billy Graham and Louis Evans, Jr. who was the organizing pastor of Bel Air Church and led the congregation of the National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., with her emphasis on Scripture and a clear Gospel message for young people. Mears is believed by many theologians to have most directly shaped Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws, which defined modern evangelism in the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moravian Church of the British Province</span> Moravian Church in the UK and Ireland

The Moravian Church of the British Province is part of the worldwide Moravian Church Unity. The Moravian Church in Britain has bishops in apostolic succession.

Amanda Husberg was an American composer of hymns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ada R. Habershon</span> Musical artist

Ada Ruth Habershon was an English Christian hymnist and writer, best known for her 1907 gospel song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" for which the tune was composed by Charles H. Gabriel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda P. Fried</span> American epidemiologist

Linda P. Fried is an American geriatrician and epidemiologist, who is also the first female Dean of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Her research career is focused on frailty, healthy aging, and how society can successfully transition to benefit from an aging population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Bernard</span> American doctor

Marie A. Bernard, M.D. is the Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Prior to this, she was the deputy director of the National Institute on Aging at the NIH, where she oversaw approximately $3.1 billion in research focused on aging and Alzheimer's disease. Bernard serves as a cochair of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director Working Group on Diversity, the NIH Steering Committee Working Group on DEIA, and the NIH UNITE initiative launched in 2021 to identify and address any structural racism that may exist within NIH and throughout the biomedical and behavioral workforce. She also co-led the development of the Fiscal Years 2023 – 2027 NIH-wide Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and is working on its implementation.

Elizabeth Grietje Terburg Rowley (1927–2015) was a Latter-day Saint hymnwriter. Born in Florida, she later moved to Hawaii, to teach, and then to Salt Lake City, Utah. She wrote several hymns for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, among which is "Be Thou Humble".

Jann Aldredge-Clanton is an ordained Christian minister, author, teacher, and chaplain, who leads workshops and conferences throughout the United States. She has authored eleven books, six songbooks, a children's musical, and a children's songbook. She has also published many articles in publications such as Christian Feminism Today, The Journal of Pastoral Care, The Christian Ministry, and Patheos. She specializes in feminist theology and inclusive worship resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Bell</span> American advocate for disability rights

Harriet Bell was an American advocate for disability rights. She was a co-founder and director of the Polio Information Center and a member of the New York State Board for Nursing. Residing in the Goldwater Memorial Hospital after contracting polio, she was president of the hospital board for four terms, participating in drafting the Patients' Bill of Rights. In 1982, she was the recipient of the Wonder Woman Foundation Award of Warner Communications Inc. as an agent of change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betty Dubiner</span>

Betty Dubiner was a Canadian-born Israeli, who was instrumental in obtaining vaccines for the new nation of Israel to combat a polio epidemic and the development of programs to assist disabled people. Founder of the organization Ilenshil-Polio, which later became the Israeli Association for Children with Disabilities (ILAN) and the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled, she was recognized with the President's Award for Volunteerism in 1988, for her contributions to Israeli society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marilyn Saviola</span> American disability rights activist (1945–2019)

Marilyn E. Saviola was an American disability rights activist, executive director of the Center for the Independence of the Disabled in New York from 1983 to 1999, and vice president of Independence Care System after 2000. Saviola, a polio survivor from Manhattan, New York, is known nationally within the disability rights movement for her advocacy for people with disabilities and had accepted many awards and honors for her work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leah Lowenstein</span> American nephrologist, academic administrator, and cellist

Leah Miriam Lowenstein was an American nephrologist, academic administrator, and cellist. In 1982, she became the first woman dean of a co-educational, medical school in the United States upon her appointment at Jefferson Medical College. Lowenstein was previously associate dean and professor of medicine and biochemistry at the Boston University School of Medicine. She served in the Carter administration as a medical advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health. Lowenstein was an advocate for women in medicine.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Dosia Carlson". AWHF. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Zikmund, Barbara Brown (2021-09-01). "Dosia Carlson: A Long Life that Made a Difference". United Church of Christ. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  3. 1 2 3 4 VanDyke, Mary Louise (April 1996). "Oberlin Hymn Makers" (PDF). The Hymn: A Journal of Congregational Song. 47 (2): 11–16.
  4. 1 2 "Duet Founder Rev. Dr. Dosia Carlson's Induction into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame". Duet. 2022-04-25. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  5. 1 2 Brauninger, Dallas A. (2000). Lectionary Worship Aids, Series V, Cycle C. CSS Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7880-1598-4.
  6. ↑ "Mary Louise VanDyke Papers" (PDF). Oberlin College. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Past Antoinette Brown Award Recipients". United Church of Christ. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.